DANVILLE -- Dave Yost should know better than most, having been an assistant coach at Danville for the last half-dozen years, the player the Ironmen have in Mikeal Owens-Wright.
Terrific athlete. Great leaper. Decent touch around the rim.
However, Southern Columbia's first-year varsity coach saw a strikingly different Owens-Wright in Monday night's Heartland crossover game.
The 6-foot-3 junior attacked the basket like an angry hornet, muscling up shots like never before against the young Tigers who were more than willing to trade bruises in the lane.
The result was a career-best 30 points for Owens-Wright -- including 12 in a pivotal third-quarter stretch -- that led Danville to a 70-59 win at the McCloskey Center.
"He went right at us. We just didn't get a body on him enough to stop him," said Yost. "And obviously, when you've got him that close, with his athleticism, he's going to eat you alive."
Owens-Wright had six baskets during a tell-tale run in which Danville score on 11 consecutive possessions to start the third quarter, leaving a 35-all halftime tie in its wake.
He scored five straight baskets at one point, all in the paint, as Yost burned one timeout after another to try to slow the momentum.
Danville's lead grew to 14 before the third quarter ended and crested at 15 late in the fourth.
"A lot of times Mikeal would make good moves and not finish. Or he'd shoot fadeaways, try to finesse a shot over the rim rather than going hard to the backboard. We get on him all the time about it," said Ironmen coach Lenny Smith. "In the second half, he went to the basket strong and finished."
Owens-Wright, who made 14 of 20 shots, also pulled a game-high 13 rebounds. Michael Rudy had 16 points and seven boards, and Ryan Reichard scored 12 as Danville (13-5) won its third straight game.
The turning point for Owens-Wright came less than a week ago at Shamokin, when he went toe-to-toe with Indians bruiser Brent Forbes and excelled, scoring 16 points in a 24-point Danville win.
"Forbes is a great competitor, and taking it to him gave me confidence," said Owens-Wright. "If I can play to a great ability with him, one of the best in the league, any other ones are not going to faze me at all."
Owens-Wright was relentless Monday, pounding the ball at basket time and again, whether the shot called for a quick move around an outstretched arm or a lead elbow through it. At one point in the fourth quarter, he turned into a pair of Tigers and forced up a shot that had no business going in but it did, the last two points of a total that dwarfed his previous best (18).
"Maybe he figured it out," said Smith. "We've always said, Man, when he puts it together he's going to be dynamite.' Well, he showed what can happen when he puts it together."
Southern (10-9), which has lost six of its last eight, matched the Ironmen's preferred quick tempo and shot an identical 10-for-13 in the first quarter. The Tigers, though, banked too much on the 3-point shot over the last three quarters and finished 24 percent (7 of 29) from distance.
Owens-Wright had 10 points in the first quarter, making hay while 6-2 Southern junior Ian Stout sat with two fouls he picked up in the game's first 2-plus minutes.
"When (Stout) was out I tried to take advantage of defenders that weren't as experienced," said Owens-Wright. "I just wanted to pound and pound; be like an enforcer down there."
The break-neck pace of a 24-23 first quarter settled down for the 35-all halftime tie, but the Ironmen owned the third quarter.
Alex Vitunac followed up a miss and then Owens-Wright scored on a putback, the first of his five consecutive baskets, for a 49-42 lead. Reichard scored in transition off an Owens-Wright outlet; Rudy cut down the lane for an easy hoop; Andrew Andreychik found Owens-Wright down low for a bucket and then scored on a runout. Rudy capped the impressive run with a putback and foul shot to make it 58-46.
"We told them the (importance of the) first three minutes of the third quarter. That's the ballgame right there," said Smith. "That's exactly what you have to do coming out of the half."
Stout, Kurt Kessler and Kristian Klebon scored 10 points apiece to lead Southern. Jared Hallick added nine.
"I don't think anybody would, on paper, give us a chance in a game like this, and we had them tied at halftime. We couldn't ask for anything more at that point," said Yost. "Unfortunately we just weren't able to stop them at the defensive end to give ourselves a chance. To their credit -- regardless of the defense we threw at them -- we just weren't able to stop them inside."
Sports
Related Photos
Discussion
Danville junior drops 30 in victory
- Sports
-
-
College Lacrosse: Bucknell men prepare to improve upon great season
LEWISBURG -- It started a handful of years ago, when the Bucknell men's lacrosse team put a big 'X' on the national map in Central Pennsylvania with an upset of No. 1 Maryland. From that point on Bison coach Frank Fedorjaka has had a difficult time getting big-time opponents on the schedule, even with Bucknell opting to travel under the worst of circumstances.
-
High school football: Pratt says Kutztown the right fit
SUNBURY -- When Shikellamy's Tyler Pratt joins the Kutztown University football team as a free safety next fall, he will already have a good feeling for what his position coach will expect from him. Pratt, who signed a national letter of intent this week to accept a scholarship offer to play for the Golden Bears, will be under the tutelage of his father's high school football coach.
-
Todd Stanford On high school boys basketball: Increasing the refs' workload
If two heads are better than one, does that mean six eyes are better than four? Not necessarily, according to some Heartland Athletic Conference officials. There is a move afoot in the HAC to cut the number of basketball referees from three to two for part of the season beginning next year.
-
High School Roundup: Greenwood boys complete perfect TVL season
Greenwood capped off an unbeaten 2011-12 Tri-Valley League season by crushing Halifax 61-38 on Thursday Night.
-
Shikellamy Braves pull away from Shamokin
SUNBURY — Tyler Pratt kept Shikellamy in the game in the third quarter Wednesday, scoring all seven of the Braves’ points. He then got some help in the fourth.
-
High School Roundup: Selinsgrove tops Jersey Shore
JERSEY SHORE — With the game tied at 32 at the half, the Selinsgrove boys basketball term went on a big run in the third quarter to open up the game and take a 65-56 Heartland Athletic Conference Division I win over Jersey Shore on Wednesday.
-
Shikellamy Braves rally to stay alive
SELINSGROVE — With 11 losses, the Shikellamy girls basketball team is teetering on the brink of elimination from the District 4 Class AAA playoffs. And on Wednesday night, it looked like the Braves were going to go quietly into the offseason when Selinsgrove built a 14-point lead early in the third quarter.
-
They learn to be tough young
It's difficult to recall exactly how the sequence unfolded because it happened so darn fast. Shikellamy made a couple baskets, and the crowd began to stir. It was still anybody's game, and the Braves had some momentum late in the third quarter of a recent run with Danville.
-
Motorsports: Selinsgrove, Lincoln speedways to host 360 sprint series
MECHANICSBURG -- Mach 1 Chassis of Mechanicsburg will be the title sponsor of the Mid-Atlantic 360 Sprint Car Championship Series, a $120,000 six-race tour that will include five shows at Selinsgrove Speedway and one event at Lincoln Speedway in 2012.
-
Girls basketball: Records fall, Red Tornadoes stay unbeaten
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT -- An overflow crowd zealously cheered Tierney Pfirman's pursuit of the South Williamsport scoring record throughout Tuesday's game, until their breathless faces matched the Mounties' royal blue.
- More Sports Headlines
-
